“Over in Oakwood. My parents just moved here so my sister could be in a better school system. This town totally sucks. What do you guys even do here?”
Now, I can appreciate that Piermont is pretty lame. I mean, the most exciting thing that happens here is the high school football team makes the playoffs or some kids TP a house. But, well, only people who have lived here for at least a year are allowed to make fun of it. It is like making religious jokes, you can only make them about your own.
“I don’t know. Stuff.”
“Stuff? Awesome.” Ralph laughs.
We stand around awkwardly, out of things to say.
“Well, we better get home. See you guys Monday,” I say to Jason and Dylan. “Nice to meet you,” I say to Ralph. Gilbert and I turn and walk back to my house as Ralph answers, “Nice to meet you, too.”
Chapter 5
Sunday, November 8
Today’s horoscope: Don’t lose focus. Grab onto opportunities that come your way!
I send a text message to Gilbert: Be there in 5.
My mom is dropping me off on Lakeshore Avenue to meet Gilbert and go shopping. I have been holding onto a gift certificate to Hollister that I got for my birthday and I want to check out their new jeans. Gilbert was already down there. Her older brother had taken her earlier because he was going to meet some friends for coffee. Her brother is so cool. He is in high school, listens to the best music and drives a vintage Toyota Land Cruiser. I have a total crush. Not that I mention any of this to Gilbert.
When I get there Gilbert is waiting on the corner for me. Apparently there is no way her brother is going to let her join him and his friends while they sit around and talk about girls, cars, and the newest Jack White album.
“What took you so long?” Gilbert wants to know as soon as I get out of the car.
“Sorry, my mom got back late from her Pilates session, and I couldn’t get her out the door.”
* * *
“I think these make my butt look big.” Gilbert and I are in the dressing room at Hollister and these are the third pair I have tried on. Gilbert gives my ass a once over.
“No, I think they are totally cute.” I check my butt again. Hmmm. Gilbert tries on a red v-neck sweater. It looks totally classic on her.
“Oh, Gilbert. You have to have that. You look like Anne Hathaway.”
Gilbert admires herself in the mirror.
“Are you sure?” Gilbert always doubts her own beauty, a trait which is both admirable and totally annoying all at the same time. I have on another pair of jeans and these, well, they make me look hot.
“What do you think?”
Gilbert looks. “Wow, you look hot.”
We walk out of the store with bags in tow, and head over to The Bean to get a vanilla blended. I half hope that Gilb’s brother will ask us to join him, but he conveniently ignores us, so we go across the street to the public space where all the boys skateboard. There are about five guys working on their kick-flips and grinding along the benches. This kid, Winston, who we met at Sophie’s bat mitzvah, is there with some other guys. The last time I saw him, he was in a suit that was too short on his tall and lanky figure and he was dancing at the after party like a total spaz. He has filled out a little since then and he’s suddenly hot in his jeans and surf t-shirt pulling a fairly decent Ollie. Gilbert and I sit with our drinks and try to look cool.
Winston walks over.
“Hey, you’re Leah, right?”
I look up, do my best eyelash bat and pretend to be a little confused.
“Hey.”
“I’m Winston, we met at Sophie’s bat mitzvah.”
“Oh yeah. Hey, this is Alex.”
Gilbert and Winston nod to one another, but he never takes his eyes off me.
“What are you girls doing down here?” he asks us.
“Oh, just some shopping.” I was deciding that I could overlook the spazzy dancing.
“Cool,” he says as he sits down next to us.
“You’re a good skater,” Gilbert comments.
“Thanks, I’m kinda beat. I’ve been out here like an hour already.”
“Want to walk around with us?” I suggest.
“Sure,” he says. “Let me just go tell the guys.”
When he gets up to tell them I give Gilbert my best “Oh my gosh, this is actually happening” look. Her look says, “I am so stoked for you!” We are, like, totally telepathic.
We walk up and down the street looking in windows and making jokes. When I go to throw my vanilla blended cup away Winston stops me.
“Don’t you know that is recyclable?” he says and throws it in the recycle bin. A friend to the environment? I have totally decided if he asks me out I will say yes.
“Those puppies are so cute.” We coo into the window of the pet store. Winston and I agree on everything. Like that the cutest dogs are Wheaton terriers, Porsches are the coolest cars, and that Verizon totally has the best service in our area.
“Hey guys, what’s up?” We look up and Jason and Ralph skateboard up behind us.
“Oh, hey.” I am surprised to see Ralph again, considering he is taking off the next day. My hands start to sweat.
“Do you guys know Winston? He goes to Dixon.” I introduce them. He and Jason shake hands. But Winston and Ralph give each other a cold stare.
“What’s up, Ralph?” Winston says. His voice is icy.
“Nothin’,” Ralph answers. “We gotta go.” Ralph says, jumps on his skateboard and rides away. Jason gives us a shrug and a wave and follows after him.
That was weird.
“Hey, you guys wanna grab something to eat?” Winston asks. Um, yeah, totally.
“Sure,” we say, and head over to the food court.
Gilbert and I order salads. There is no way we are eating what we normally order, a cheeseburger, in front of a boy. The salad tastes like lettuce. Ew. I noticed something green stuck between Gilbert’s teeth. I give her the universal food-in-your-teeth sign and she delicately tries to dislodge it, but it isn’t moving. She keeps looking over to me and giving me a smile. I keep shaking my head. Finally, she gets up and excuses herself to go to the bathroom.
“So, how do you know Ralph?” I ask Winston once Gilbert is gone. I think maybe he might open up to me once we are alone, and I need scoop.
“Oh yeah, it’s a long story. We used to go to school together.” Oh, this I need to hear.
“Really, that’s cool. I mean, he seems like kind of a jerk, but I just met him.”
“Yeah, he totally is. Did you hear why he is at Havenhurst?”
“No, why?”
“He is like a total druggie. I was there when the Vice Principal busted him with pot.”
“You mean, marijuana?” I am shocked. I had learned about the effects of marijuana in science class and know that high school kids sometimes smoke it, but really?
“Yeah,” Winston says and laughs at me like I am such a baby.
“Wow,” is all I can think to say.
“Well, there is other stuff too,” Winston went on.
“Like what?” Now I am totally curious, this is getting better and better by the minute.
“I used to date his sister but he broke us up because he didn’t think I was good enough for her.”
“No way.” This seemed to fit along with Ralph’s personality perfectly. He is such a pompous jerk and now a druggie. Good riddance. But wait, does this mean Winston is still in love with Ralph’s sister?
Winston continues, “It was probably a good thing in the end though, I don’t think she was really my type.” Whew! Alex returns from the bathroom with perfectly white teeth.
“What’d I miss?”
I am expecting my dad to pick us up at 3:15 P.M. in front of The Bean, so around 3 o’clock Gilbert and I say goodbye to Winston. Winston pulls his cell phone out of his pocket and I quickly give Gilbert the hard stare for her to beat it. Thank goodness she gets the message and pretends to look in the window nex
t door. “Hey, can I get your number?” Winston asks. I am so excited.
“Sure, I’ll just program it in for you.” He hands me his phone and I punched in my numbers. “There.” I hand it back to him.
“I’ll call you. I think there are some good Dixon parties coming up,” Winston says. Oh my gosh, cool parties. I am in heaven. Just then my dad pulls up in his convertible with Bonnie in the front seat and Michael Bolton blaring.
They are early. I am mortified.
“Leah!” Bonnie yells over the music and waves hysterically at me. This is so embarrassing.
“Well, gotta go.” I say to Winston, and run to the car to get my psycho parents out of there as quickly as possible. Gilbert follows me and we jump in the back seat. My dad screeches out; he totally thinks he is Jeff Gordon or something. I grab my hair as it starts whipping in the wind. I don’t even look back to see if Winston waved goodbye.
Chapter 6
Monday, November 9
Today’s horoscope: Neither believe everything you hear nor dismiss it entirely.
I can’t wait to get to school on Monday morning. Not because of my classes—what kind of girl do you take me for?—but there is so much to discuss. Ralph has gone back to boarding school and I need to get more scoop on Winston from Sophie ASAP. Gilbert’s mom finally pulls up to my house and I jump in the car. She drives us towards school. We meet Riley, Maddy, and Rowan outside. We have five minutes before the bell rings to discuss the dance, boys, and Mr. Homer’s pre-Algebra assignment. Gilbert and I tell the girls about Winston, confirm that Gilbert likes Dylan, I spill about Ralph’s drug use, and just before the bell, I get the answers to two math problems I didn’t understand.
Breathless, I sit down in English. Ms. Sanders is standing in front of the class next to a pretty blonde girl with long, straight hair and bangs that are cut straight across her forehead. She has on a blue cashmere sweater, the most stylish jeans and instead of a backpack, she is carrying a fancy leather purse. As soon as the bell rings, Ms. Sanders says, “Class, I would like to introduce you to a new student. This is Kate Deutchman, she just moved here from Dixon Middle School. Let’s all welcome her.” The kids all give half-hearted hellos and welcomes. Deutchman, Deutchman. This must be Ralph’s sister. Yeah, you can see it in the shape of her eyes. I wonder if she is as much of a snob as her brother.
“Kate, why don’t you sit right here.” Ms. Sanders gives her a seat in the front row. Poor girl.
After class is over, I decide to be a good ambassador and welcome her. Okay, I have to know what she is like; after all, she had dated Winston.
“Kate?” I catch up with her. “Hey, I am Leah. I think I met your brother, Ralph, this weekend.” Kate looks me up and down. Is she going to be a total bitch? Recognition seems to hit her.
“Yeah, my brother told me about you. It’s so nice to meet you.” She seems nice. Damn. But wait, Ralph told her about me? Why? That is weird.
“Nice to meet you, too." I say. "Welcome to Piermont Middle School, affectionately known as PMS, where you can look forward to six periods, cranky teachers, and general pre-menstrual bloating.”
Kate laughs.
“What class do you have next?” I ask her. She looks at her schedule.
“It looks like I have math with Mr. Livy.”
“He’s pretty cool. I had him last year. Just go down the hall, make a right and look for room 222.”
“Hey, thanks a lot. It’s so nice to meet you.” She says as she heads off. I brush against the leather on her bag as she walks past me. Damn, it is soft.
I run off to my history class. Gilbert is there. As we sit down I lean over. “I just met Puke’s sister.” I decided this was my new nickname for him. “What?” Gilbert asks.
“Ralph’s sister is in my English class. She actually seems cool.” Gilbert is only half listening to me. Dylan is in this class and she is staring at him as he walks in and sits down right in front of her. “Hi,” he says. “Hi,” she whispers back.
Oh boy.
The bell rings and Mr. Jeffries assigns our new project. We have to partner up and write a report on the contributions of Babylonian culture. Really? I assume Gilbert and I will be partners but Dylan turns around and asks her if they can partner up. Gilb gladly accepts. What am I supposed to do? I shoot her a nasty glare, but know that I would have done exactly the same thing to her. Someone is tapping my shoulder. I turned around and there is Jimmy, right in my face. Ew.
“Would you like to be partners?”
Spending the next few weeks on a project with Jimmy sounds like torture, but as I look around the room it seems like everyone else has already been picked. The brief thought of having him do the whole project for me crosses my mind. After all, he is a straight “A” student.
“Fine,” I agree. Jimmy sits back looking satisfied. I glare at Gilbert one more time before I take out my spiral and start taking down the notes off the board.
“I can’t believe you did that to me! Now I have to work with Jimmy.” I fume at Gilbert after class.
“I am so sorry. I promise to make it up to you.” I squint my eyes at her wondering what she could possibly do for forgiveness. “I will buy you your vanilla blended this week,” she suggests. Well that seems fair. I love vanilla blendeds.
By lunchtime it seems that Kate had already made more than enough friends. She is already sitting with the Fabulous Five. Individually, I am friends with them, but as a group they are intimidating. Whenever I hang out with them they are always talking about how little they ate that day or what new item of clothing they are going to buy. I don’t know why any seventh grader thinks they need to be on a diet, but these girls are kind of obsessed with the way they look. Their mothers let them wear make-up to school and on the weekends they get mani-pedis. Every day is like a fashion show with them. Last month they didn’t talk to Chloe for a week because one day she wore a sweater from last season. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I am all for being
au courant, but seriously. I can really take them or leave them, but Sophie is in the group, and I need scoop on Winston. I wait until she gets up to throw away her lunch of Diet Coke and fat-free cheese puffs (total calories: 100). I meet her by the trash cans.
“Hey Sophie, I ran into that guy Winston this weekend. You know him, right?”
Sophie adjusts her designer shoe. It looks like she is getting a blister. “Winston? Yeah, our families have been friends forever.”
“Really, that’s cool. So, what’s his story?”
“He’s alright, I guess, but I think he’s kind of a player.”
“Yeah, I figured.” A player? Meaning he goes after lots of girls? I am bummed. Bill, the janitor, who is busy changing the trash bags, overhears.
“Girls, don’t play games with boys until you know the rules,” Bill advises.
What a weirdo.
I ignore him and quickly change the subject with Sophie so that I am not totally obvious. “So, what did you do this weekend?”
I barely listen to her answer. Something about a slumber party with the FF.
Should I trust Sophie about Winston? Maybe she has her own motives. Maybe she likes him. I needed to discuss this with Gilbert, but the five minute bell rings and I have to get to science class.
After school lets out, I wait out front for Gilbert so we can complete our daily walk home together. I want to talk to her about what Sophie told me about Winston. Five minutes pass and she still hasn’t showed. I pull out my phone.
Louis: Where are you???????
Gilbert: D asked me to study in library w/ him.
Gilbert: Cool?
Is she kidding me? I need advice, counseling, guidance, and here she is ditching me to study with Dylan in the library.
Louis: Fine.
Gilbert: r u sure?
I couldn’t even be bothered to text her back. What am I going to say? The other girls have already headed home or been picked up. I bend down to pick up my bag, ready to face the walk solo, when out
of the corner of my eye I see Melinda. She lives on my block, and anything is better than walking home alone.
“Hey, Melinda,” I say. She looks around, making sure I am talking to her.
“Hey,” she says back, once she finally convinced herself.
“Are you walking home?” I ask.
“Actually, I am headed over to Crissy’s to study.”
Oh my God, even Melinda isn’t going to walk home with me.
“But I can walk you home first if you want?” Melinda suggests.
Shoot me now.
I gave a half-hearted laugh, “Thanks, but no. Well, have a good one.” I wave and head off.
“Maybe we can walk home tomorrow?” she calls after me.
I don’t even turn around.
* * *
Later that night I am doing homework at my computer. Gilbert IMs me.
Alex_aka_Gilbert: hi
Alex_aka_Gilbert: sorry about today.
I don’t respond. I just am not in the mood. I know I don’t have any right to be pissed, but I am and I just want to stay in a bad mood for a while. My cell phone rings. I am sure it is Gilbert trying to talk to me. I look down but the number isn’t hers. The fact that I don’t recognize it makes me think it might be Winston.
“Hello.”
“Leah? It’s Jimmy.”
Great.
“Hey Jimmy, what do you want?”
“I was thinking we should put together a calendar of when we can get together to meet on our project.”
Are you kidding me?
“Whenever, Jimmy, just let me know what’s good.”
“Okay, I will email you with a proposed schedule.”
“Great, thanks. Well, gotta run. Bye.”
I hang up before Jimmy has a chance to say good-bye.
Later that night I get an email with an Excel attachment of our schedule.
Chapter 7
Tuesday, November 10
Today’s horoscope: A friend in need is a friend indeed.
Gilbert and Louis Rule the Universe: First Impressions Page 3
